Catching Up With James Otto

James, who wrote or co-wrote 11 of the album’s 12 tracks and also produced the album, says that he was really able to define his sound on this record.

“What I really set out to do on this album was to come up with a sound that was a defining sound for me,” he says. “It was something that was completely unique with what I was doing and where I was wanting to go and honestly with what I do in my live show. My live show is definitely a country-soul show. It’s something that all of my fans I think have been looking for…to an album like this where I was really able to really full explore the country-soul sound.

So how has life changed for him since become a father last month?

“There’s a great shift in priorities when you have a baby to take care of,” Otto says. “I gotta say, the whole time my wife was pregnant you see the belly growing, but you don’t feel any deep real connection with that thing in there ’cause it’s kind of an abstract thought almost. It’s something that you know is coming, and nine months down the road we’re gonna have a baby, but when I heard that baby’s voice, because I actually heard her cry before I saw her, it floored me man. It absolutely like ripped my heart out of my chest and I broke down like a baby crying. There’s no way to explain to somebody that that emotion will overcome somebody that way and it really did.”

Listen to the full interview below.